Varied Curriculum in a 1950s Inner London Primary School

I went to five primary schools. No national curriculum meant I ‘did’ Anglo Saxons and vikings but no other history or geography. Maths was taught differently at the various schools. I learned to read, spell, tables and basic numeracy with mum.
High school I was half way through an 0 level course when we moved again. The new area did a different exam system. I ended up doing a secretarial course at the tech, three quarters the way through, we moved again.
I did A level at night school in my 20s then on to the Poly, where I achieved academically. I often think it’s a miracle I survived my education.

Knitting dishcloths out of string!!!

Country dancing - yes! and Music and movement - start small in a ball like a seed and grow like a tree; Singing together, with the words printed in pamphlets.

You are quite wrong HillyM, we had all the things you mention, including camps and nature trails and tending livestock and caring for all kinds of animals and it isn't a waste knowing what all the countries who have been renamed were called in the past, it's all part of the worlds rich history.
I enjoyed my school days, children today have much less freedom.

My Surrey Primary school was OK. I was a good pupil - near or at the top of the class always (except for maths!!) & I enjoyed school. I had good friends & I was very happy.
Made the big mistake of passing my exams & was sent to a 'really good' Grammar school while all my friends went to the local Comp. I was totally miserable for the entire time- yes I had friends but it was just not the same. I left as soon as I could & never looked back. I begged not to go to this school but my parents thought they were doing the best for me.

'would have been so much more useful'
'as well as focusing'
I previewed but still didn't spot my mistakes- so much for MY education!

Yes thanks for that Hilly, and forest schools, choirs, every kind of club imaginable, and maypole dancing !

I have mostly happy memories of my school days but I get the impression that many of you believe that the primary school curriculum 60-70 years ago was better than the current one. I have to disagree.
It is different but provides access to the sort of education that tomorrow's adults will need. For example, learning the geography of countries that now have different names and boundaries was a waste of time. Nowadays children are taught the skills to find out those sort of facts for themselves. We spent hours perfecting our handwriting- it would have so much more useful to be able to type!
At the school where I helped out (pre-covid) ALL children do cooking, sewing, woodwork, pottery and other crafts. They have a large playing field to explore nature, a properly equipped gym and go on school camps where they do exciting activities such as kick sampling streams or canoeing. We never had that! They still learn musical instruments and modern dancing, as well focusing on the very necessary literacy and numeracy skills.

When it was lunchtime at the little infant school I described earlier, we were taken by bus to a bakery in the village. It had what would now be called a ‘function room’ upstairs, and we were served lunch there. Just us. My main memory of that is the day a wasp decided to sit on my head for what seemed a very long time, and pretending I wasn’t scared.

I went to an all girl secondary school from the age of 11 to 15. The school then closed down and we were ‘amalgamated’ with a boys school.. All I can say is mixing 300 15 year old girls with 300 15 year old boys was... something I will never forget! Hormones bouncing off the corridor walls! ? But I loved it, truly the best days of my life.

Jess20

Not many good memories of my private girls school, bored to sobs most of the time, favourite subjects needlework and domestic science, hardly aspirational. Left school with a CSE, got a job and went to local FE college to do A levels. Most of my working career was as an academic, research and university lecturing. Now I'm retired I do a bit of needlework and baking, so I suppose it had some value but I don't really look back on it fondly.

I didn't do needlework or domestic science at school. It was a very "blue stocking" girls' school and the aim was to go to university. I don't even remember any other options.

I went to school in South Africa after my family emigrated there just after the war. I quite enjoyed primary school where we did most of the subjects mentioned here, and remember making an apron and embroidered a flower on the bib part, and a skirt which was gathered onto a waist band. I was very proud of that. When Elizabeth became Queen we had a lovely day, sports and games all day and early to home. We went out a lot on nature walks. But when I went to high school I hated it. The curriculum was boring and my father made me do Latin instead of French which I wanted. In gym we had to undress and get into our gym clothes and I realised that I was the only girl in the class who wore a vest instead of a bra. My mother did not even wear a bra. I sneaked into town and bought myself a little cheap bra. Also, my family was not well off and the school kept second hand school uniforms and my family always bought me a dress which was several shades of green lighter than the other girls. We were supposed to pay thirty shillings a term for school fees and my dad could not afford it, and the teacher took delight in telling me in front of the class that I was the only girl who had not paid... school days the happiest of your life? Ho ho!

My primary school days was skipping and opening my lunch box to find a Curly Wurly.
Hight school was hockey and home economics baking days and feeling so proud taking it home to show my mum.

Mub14 Come to think if it, I don't think we did get milk! I remember being told it was a sin to leave our spoons in the cup when the teacher poured the boiling water in! I realise now it was their way of making sure the water didn't splash up and scald us.
Same logic as being told it was a sin to cross the road in a diagonal line rather than straight across.

In my junior school we hand copied log tables onto a piece of paper so that we could learn logs and antilogs. We'd obviously finished the curriculum, or our teacher was bored!

Kate1949

I went to a Catholic primary school. Scary nuns and priests. We went to confession on a Thursday, Mass and Holy Communion on a Friday. After confession we weren't allowed to eat until we'd had our Communion the next day.
We took our breakfast with us to school to eat after Communion. Cold buttered toast and a paper bag with cocoa and sugar mixed. We would then put it into a mug and the teacher would pour hot water and milk onto it.

Oh I remember those days of communion and cold “margarines” toast! We took a paper twist of tea and sugar, and were given hot water, but no milk!

Learnt country dancing at primary school and our group were always part of entertainment at our village summer fete.
The last time I did it, before moving on to senior school, I was mortified to have to be paired with the boy from next door who was not only younger than me, but at least 6 inches shorter! His mum was absolutely thrilled ! Thankfully, my mum missed it - I would never have heard the last of it as she could be a bit of a snob - she classed the next door neighbours as "rough" and I would have been told that I could have chosen a better partner ! (I actually had no other choice as my usual partner hadn't turned up!)

Not many good memories of my private girls school, bored to sobs most of the time, favourite subjects needlework and domestic science, hardly aspirational. Left school with a CSE, got a job and went to local FE college to do A levels. Most of my working career was as an academic, research and university lecturing. Now I'm retired I do a bit of needlework and baking, so I suppose it had some value but I don't really look back on it fondly.

Putting chairs up on desks at the end of the day and singing
'Now the day is over'.
No question.

Oh what memories these posts evoke. I pretty much loved my whole time in school 1958-1971. From a local rural primary school I passed my 11+- the first one in my family to do so! - and moved a bit further afield ( 5 miles lol) to a “technical stream” at secondary school. I loved every minute - with the exception of PE - and the dreaded communal showers......- and cried the day I had to leave at 18+ with 5 O levels and 3 A levels. How do kids manage to get so many more exams nowadays? I worked really hard for mine and 5 I think was the norm? Actually no. I hated maths! The teacher was an absolute sadist who obviously relished the fact that he terrorised most of the class. Because I was bad at maths I was demoted to the CSE class and had a lovely lady teacher, so all well that ends well ... I remember the board rubber being thrown at the boys at the back of class. And still remember one male teacher actually getting stuck with something he was doing on the blackboard. He threw the chalk at one boy saying “ F**k it Clay, you come and sort it”. And he did. Amid gasps that the F bomb had been dropped! By a teacher ! Lol. Happy days indeed

ixion

Being sent to the toilets to tear off a square of toilet paper (?Bronco/Izal) for tracing!

(Is it true that playgroups and nurseries can't use empty loo rolls for crafting these days?)

Yes it is true that schools ( any school not just nurseries) cannot use empty toilet rolls. This is meant to reduce the spread of any bugs and things like gastroenteritis. I was told that if they want to use them they need to be put in the microwave for a few minutes! This was obviously before the current covid pandemic.
I loved my school in a small village and about 100 children in total from infants to juniors. I hated the 1/3rd of a pint of milk though. It was either warm from the sun or warm from the radiator! I'm still not fond of milk now.
I was perhaps an early glue sniffer as we used a big glass jar of white glue that smelled of marzipan. A smell I still love today. The glass jar would probably fail health and safety today along with the class guillotine we used for trimming our work. ( which shouldn't have been allowed)
We even went out for snowball fights in class time in the winter but we all prepared for secondary school when we reached the 11+. We had mixed aged classes and still had less than the 30+ children they have in class today.

Our reading books were Dick and Dora with their pets Nip and Fluff.

I remember my primary and secondary schools with great affection. I lived in the Worcestershire countryside and my primary school was a Victorian building set in fields. There was a huge conifer tree with branches that came down to the ground which was full of children during playtime. The Archers had just started and my friend and I would pretend to be Christine and Grace riding our horses on the branches. At haymaking time we’d gather hay from the neighbouring field and make dens under the hedge.
Our infant teacher was called Miss Winnell and although she looked quite fearsome she had a very kind heart and would regularly reward the day’s “top of the class” with either a small chocolate bar, bliss as sweets were still rationed, or a coin. I remember being given a shilling for doing well at something and being told there were twelve pennies in a shilling. Never forgot that.
We had the desks with inkwells and lift up lids, all facing front and recited the alphabet and times tables every day.
I remember Music and Movement on the radio and stories before hometime.
As I got older I remember listening to the King’s funeral on the radio with the whole school.
I only have to smell old fashioned plasticine and I’m right back there.
Loved it.

I hated school, from beginning to end. From 1959 to 1971 I lived for school holidays. Just thinking about it now makes my blood run cold! I always envy people who say school days were the happiest time of their life.

We had a paddling pool at my nursery class and were occasionally allowed to paddle through from one end to the other. Wonderful!!